The Spice Merchants Of Sel-kai: Part Fourteen

General Summary

When the party place the four obsidian stones on the pillars, they trigger a mechanism that causes the central circular mosaic to rotate and then sink some 7 feet into the rock below the crypt. This reveals an even older set of stone steps but unlike the stonework of the Orgillion crypt, these stones are jointed and extremely well mortared. As inviting as this new level is, concerned about possible ambushes, the party decide to explore the rest of the crypt before descending. Venturing down the widest of the passages, the companions finally find the tomb of Titus Orgillion, The door to the tomb is trapped and bears a fiendishly difficult lock that tests Cherry to her limits. While she wrestles with the lock, Cran strips the door of the precious mithril bars that were part decoration and part warding device. After removing the stone sarcophagus lid of the tomb inside, the party discover the precious notebook that the old man wrote and that poor Tobias Orgillion sought. Ugnan skims the book quickly to check its contents and learns off Titus' attempts to infuse his automata with some semblance of life. The notebook also reveals the summoning and banishing rituals that Larkrise and Sunset experimented with and that Titus used. Sadly, Tobias lacked this information and clearly lost control of the demon, T'Chagga, that he summoned. The crypt also contains the final resting place of four children but who these are in relation to Titus the party do not know, brothers and sisters of Hwyell Orgillion, Tobias' father? Chests in the crypt contain masterwork tools and a cunning crafter set of brass tubes that resemble an interlocking telescope. Fashioned in three parts with colored crystal lenses and intricately engraved, the device is clearly of an arcane nature. A small anteroom to the side is of far more interest to Cran and a horde of gemstones and silver coins are discovered. There are over two thousand of the old but still valid silver pieces so the party decide to collect the gems (25 rubies, 12 garnets and 20 tourmalines – all uncut) and pearls (12) and possibly return for the coins with their faithful donkey, "Spotted Jim". The remaining chambers are clearly waterlogged; the small wooden doors have been warped by the water that seeps under the doors and they feel damp to the touch. Fearing a minor flood if the doors are holding back any volume of water, the party decide to head down and explore the lower level while they can. As the party descend the steps the short passage ahead floods with light from an enchanted stone fashioned into the likeness of a bird. Fist-sized, the stone hovers above the party though the low ceiling (it is only a little over 6 feet high) means that Cran can grasp the stone and pull it closer for inspection. As he does so, the light dims and somewhat reluctantly, the giant lets the stone go. The stone doors at the end of the passage block entry into this mysterious level that has clearly been built on by the Orgillions. Over the doors there is a carved and somewhat cryptic message: "Let he who is brave of heart, enter". There is no obvious lock and no easy means of opening the doors but without any hesitation, Cran marches to the doors, places his hands on either side of the tiny central gap and pushes. The doors open effortlessly to reveal a small anteroom with braziers that spring into a welcoming warm life and a door to the left. A corridor off this anteroom leads to a wider chamber that is dominated by a huge round table. There is a small brass plate set in the elegant door: "Galen, Master of The Purse, gold like water in all his dealings". The chamber inside is dominated by a deep stone trough that is filled with an caustic black oil. Floating in the oil is a small and rather beautiful ivory horn and what is unmistakeably a corpse wrapped in gold leaf bindings. A large and rather plain stone sarcophagus stands in the corner of the room. There are three small ornate tables, each beautifully finished with an intricate mosaic – each of the tables conceals a part of a key. The chest in the room is empty and has a mirrored bottom. The mirror is able to give the party a glance into the future, as they look into the mirror, their reflections age and each appear perhaps a dozen or so years older save for Sylke of course. The ivory drinking horn once carefully rinsed is obviously enchanted, those that drink from the vessel feel instantly refreshed and invigorated and get a brief sense of the importance of this peculiar level of the crypt. The discoveries the party will make and the secrets they uncover will forever mark them out, for good or ill, as "heroes". There are four panels on the ivory horn, each has been carefully carved and feature a band of heroic figures. Stepping over the ominous wardstone shaped like a skull, Cherry leads the way into the chamber the boasts the impressive circular table. The four chambers to the south are empty save for elegant biers that support simple marble sarcophagi. Brass plates reveal the names of those that are possibly entombed:

"Malthus. The mighty. Never broken, Courage beyond reckoning."

"Patience. Mother of a dynasty and first of the seers. She Saw furthest."

"Verisimilitude. Truth is always paramount."

"Alphaeus. His Oath was adamant."

The chamber to the north is more ornate than the others and larger. Belonging to "Reave The Just", the part tomb part shrine also holds an impressive double handed axe of dark metal and a fine suit of chainmail that is too large for any of the party save Cran. However, the group decide to leave the items and venture to the last stone door. This requires a key that is assembled from the sections found in Galen's chamber. Sylke is the first to notices the writing that is engraved into the stone table:

"Pity the land that has no heroes. Unhappy a land that has need of heroes"

There is also an odd poem:

"Heroes sleep The Horn summons The land rejoices The sleepers wake"

Perhaps the "horn" mentioned is the one that Cran currently holds? The passage on the other side of the chamber leads to two final chambers. One is warded by a lethal looking trapped door with a rotating lock mechanism. Fortunately the key that the party assembled from the sections found in Galen's tomb fits the lock. The second chamber has a life sized alabaster statue of an imperiously beautiful fey women holding a huge mirror. The mirror ripples and frosts over as the party watch, it is clearly a portal of some sort and very similar to the one the party found in The Old Sword Inn. Perhaps this is a means of escaping the crypts?